It wasn’t pretty, but the Felicity-Franklin Lady Cardinals did just enough to pick up the win on Monday, February 11.
The team held off a late rally from Covington Latin to pick up a 40-32 victory in the Bud Phillips Scholarship game, the team’s first victory of the season.
Head coach Kerry Stamper didn’t mince words when describing how the team’s performance against the Lady Trojans.
“It was bad,” Stamper said. “I don’t know what kind of state they were in, but they weren’t here to play tonight. I know we weren’t playing a team at the level that we have been, but still, no excuses.”
Stamper said both sides of the ball were not up to par at times.
“We didn’t dig deep, we didn’t do fundamental basketball on defense, no boxing out,” Stamper said. “We didn’t move the ball on offense. It was a win, but it wasn’t a pretty win.”
Felicity scored 15 points in the first quarter, thanks in large part to Taylor McElfresh, who connected on a trio of three-point shots in the quarter.
“The last two games, [McElfresh] has played really well,” Stamper said. “We’re glad to see her start to come on after she’s back from her injury.”
The Cardinals cooled off a bit in the second period, but they still held a 25-18 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, Felicity tallied just five points. Covington Latin scored six in the period.
Jordan Lowe stepped up in the fourth quarter. She hit a pair of threes in the quarter, accounting for six of Felicity’s 10 points.
Madison Moore also played a key role in the period. Covington Latin cut Felicity’s lead to one point with less than four minutes left. Moore converted a layup, then stole the ball and dished it to Lowe, who connected on one of her three-pointers. Stamper said that sequence was a key one for the Lady Cardinals.
“It got the momentum going again,” Stamper said. “They stuck with it and didn’t quit. We were kind of flat there for a little while, I wasn’t sure that we were going to pull it out. The momentum switched there and that helped us out.”
Felicity drew a first-round bye in the Division IV sectional tournament. The Lady Cardinals face either Miami Valley Christian Academy or Cedarville at Monroe High School on Tuesday, February 19, at 6 p.m.